The S&P 500 wobbled but ended higher Thursday as investors continued to weigh whether recent concerns about global growth marked a blip in market sentiment or a longer-term turn away from the buoyancy that defined the beginning of 2019.

The broad index ticked up 10.07 points, or 0.4%, to 2815.44, after flipping between gains and losses during the session. A rise in material and industrial stocks in the S&P 500 was offset by a drop in utility shares. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 91.87 points, or 0.4%, to 25717.46, rebounding after snapping a two-day winning streak Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite tacked on 25.79 points, or 0.3%, to 7669.17.

All three major averages, which are mildly higher for the week, are on pace to notch gains of at least 10% in the first quarter.

Investors have recently faced a series of signals that global growth could be set to slow, with the U.S. yield curve inverting just as the yield on 10-year German government bonds turned negative. Both events are considered harbingers of a global downturn.

Data released Thursday showed the U.S. economy grew at a slower rate than initially estimated in the fourth quarter. Gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services produced across the economy, rose at a 2.2% annual rate last quarter, adjusted for seasonality and inflation, the Commerce Department said.

Also weighing on investors: U.S. corporate profits moderated in the fourth quarter, according to the data. Many investors have worried that the tariff spat between the U.S. and China would threaten to crimp earnings growth. Corporate profits after tax, without inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, fell 1.7% from the prior quarter, the data showed.

Some analysts expect that the slowdown in earnings growth is already priced in by most investors. Earnings at S&P 500 companies are expected to fall 3.8% from a year earlier, according to FactSet, which would mark the first year-over-year profit decline for large U.S. companies since the second quarter of 2016.

“The stock-market swoon in December in anticipation of slowing corporate profits, the digestion of it and then the rebound in stocks this year could indicate that it won’t be as bad as originally thought,” said Ken Moraif, senior adviser at Money Matters, a Dallas-based wealth management and investment firm. “The earnings will likely be in line and won’t cause any great disruption.”

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Investors have been faced with a series of signals that global growth could be set to slow.
Photo:
Andrew Harnik/Associated Press

The 10-year U.S. Treasury ticked up to 2.389% Thursday, from 2.374% Wednesday, snapping a six-day losing streak. Negative sentiment has continued to weigh on equities and pressure bond yields lower world-wide as investors flock to haven assets. Yields move inversely to prices.

Still, Federal Reserve officials spoke out Wednesday, suggesting it is too soon to begin cutting rates, which is what markets are forecasting when the yield curve inverts. Many investors say the recent market jitters are unjustified and expect the rally at the beginning of 2019 to continue apace.

In Thursday’s action,
Facebook
shares dipped 0.2% to $165.55, as the Department of Housing and Urban Development said it was charging the company with violating fair-housing laws. Meanwhile, shares of
Lululemon Athletica
jumped 14% to $167.54, after the yoga-gear maker’s fourth-quarter results topped analysts’ expectations.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 edged down 0.1% after Prime Minister
Theresa May
on Wednesday said that she would resign if the Brexit agreement she has negotiated with Brussels is approved by Parliament. The British pound fell 1.1% against the dollar on Thursday.